St Helens boss Paul Rowley has hit back at critics and has said that outside noise doesn’t bother him, despite the side going through a rough patch.
Saints have lost their last three matches, and won just one of their last five. They take on Huddersfield Giants later this afternoon – who are the only side they have managed to overcome in that period.
With the Giants bottom of the table and the game being played at the BrewDog Stadium, it’s hard to believe that Saints can lose this game, but their inability to attack as of late has been a huge concern.
The Red Vee have not scored points in six of their last 10 halves of rugby, which is hugely concerning given that Rowley was brought in to be an attack-based coach.
With plenty of noise surrounding the club, most of which is negative, the boss has had his say on some of the criticisms aimed at the side.
Speaking to the press earlier this week, Rowley said:Â “I certainly read and watch a lot, and there’s always a lot of noise.
“It’s well documented when there’s one or two players missing in other teams, but not so much in ours, but it’s irrelevant to me, all of that. I’m not really bothered.
“I live by the mantra, ‘the people that matter know’, and that’ll do for me.”
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St Helens boss assesses first half of season as table prediction made
The former Salford man was asked to summarise his first half-a-season in charge of the club, and he again reminded people that this is a long-term rebuild, and change won’t happen instantly.
He said: “It’s challenging, and it’s challenging in many ways, obviously I think the club and the team have been going through, we’ll use that word, transition, but that’s just the way it is.
“There’s some significant players that left and off-field players as well, so it’s a lot of change, but one that I think we’ve been riding pretty well.
“People talk about clubs in transition, and it usually coincides with falling off a cliff, but we’ve not done that, so credit to everybody here for working extremely hard and covering each other’s back and being tight.
“I’m happy in that respect, and I’m excited that, whilst change is tough, I don’t mind tough. Tough’s not something I worry about, so I get more excited about it than anything.
“We’re in the right part of the table, and the points between top and middle are minuscule to be honest, so the table can change and I’m sure it will, right until the death.
“I think every week’s going to have a significant impact on the table the further it gets down the line, so we just need to keep working hard, and that’ll set us in good stead.”
